Wednesday, November 10, 2010

On Being Still

Do you ever feel you're a little slow when it comes to the aha!-eureka! moments of life? Sometimes I do.

You see, I'm teaching this year...art, to a LOT of students. It seems there is much to do in each class and very little time, so when the kids won't quiet down while I'm talking, lecturing or giving instructions, I get frustrated. Yesterday as I was walking into school, I thought to myself, "Why do I get so frustrated with that? Is it me? Do other teachers feel this way?" And then it hit me. So clearly. A revelation I would never have gotten had I not been teaching some wonderful kids this year.

God revealed to me deep in my spirit, "How do you think I feel when I'm trying to teach you something? When I'm speaking to you, but you won't be still enough or quiet enough to listen? When you don't leave all the cares of your world outside and give me your full, undivided attention? Is it any wonder that occasionally I have to use more drastic measures to slow you down and make you listen? I do have something to teach you, you know. And there's so much to do but so little time."

Well, my goodness. I guess I am slow. It took over three decades and walking in the shoes of a teacher to understand that I am JUST LIKE my children when it comes to learning from God, to listening to Him. I am a fidgety, chatty, distracted, and busy child.

Be still, and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:10

Wow. I get it know. I doubt I'll be quite as frustrated when my kids are talking or tapping their feet while I'm trying to teach them the difference between Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso. We are kindred spirits, after all.

Now, on to my next lesson...patience.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Somewhere in My Chronology, a Poem

by Nicole Seitz

If all of life is but a moment...

I am a little girl sitting
in a windowsill listening
to John Denver wondering
when her daddy's coming
home.

I am a young woman putting
a ring on a finger saying
I will now and always
under a magnolia
tree.

I am a new mother laying
on a hard table listening
to her daughter's cry saying
her name is
Olivia.

I am a soccer mom cheering
for her young son running
across a green field scoring
a goal just for
her.

I am a daughter, a sibling loving
my family, an author writing
characters teaching
me about
myself.

I am a child of God savoring
each second thanking
Him for the blessings hoping
for what tomorrow may
bring.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Sun Stand Still - Audacious Faith

Was blessed this weekend to watch a message by Stephen Furtick, pastor (on fire!) of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. Every time I hear him, I am moved. No different this time, but maybe moreso. He talked about having an audacious faith that asks God to do the impossible. He calls is Sun Stand Still faith, and he has a book entitled the same. Well, I found this video of a rap song for the Sun Stand Still movement. This. Song. Rocks. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5klQLaYNew

Sunday, September 19, 2010

A Good Blog is Hard To Find: As the River Rages

A Good Blog is Hard To Find: As the River Rages: "By Nicole Seitz If this reads a little like a family letter home during the holidays, bear with me. I'm from the South where family is king...."

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Beyond Grief

I'm saddened to hear a dear friend passed away yesterday, amazing poet, Irene Nuite Lofton. I've lost several friends in the last few years and her chapbook, "Beyond Grief", has helped me tremendously. Here's my favorite poem in that one about hope. I don't think she would mind my sharing it in full.

THE PROMISE TREE

Today I saw a tulip tree
Against February skies.
And every swelling velvet bud
Flings truth at winter's lies.

Lies which say there is no end
To winter's bitter cold.
That hope is lost and never found
As earth is growing old.

But tulip buds tell only truth,
and every bud proclaims
That life must surely follow death,
And spring will come again.

~Irene Nuite Lofton

You will be missed, Irene. Heaven rejoices.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Mother's Day Book Recommendation

Brenda Seward of Simple Pleasures Books & Gifts offers three book recommendations for Mother's Day. I'm pleased that mine is one of them! Here's her lovely review:

Saving Cicadas, by Nicole Seitz

"Saving Cicadas is the story of a single mother in crisis and how her current turmoil and the decision she must take affects her daughters (an eight year old and a seventeen-year-old special needs child) and her grandparents. In a quandary about how to resolve the problem before her, Priscilla decides she needs to take a road trip to her childhood home in the hope that the journey will give her insight and provide a solution to her problem. In this beautifully written novel, the journey that Priscilla and her family take is both literal and metaphoric. Each character in this story has their own special and individual journey to make, each helping the other to achieve their own separate peace. This is a wonderful novel, chronicling all the pain and joy of motherhood."

--Review by Brenda Seward, Simple Pleasures Books & Gifts
http://www.simplepleasuresbooksandgifts.com/

Monday, April 26, 2010

Cyberwalk Arts Contest Winner

I'm fairly sure I was the oldest alum entry, but I'm pleased nonetheless for winning 2nd place in the Cyberwalk Arts Contest - Alumni category, part of the 29th Annual SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival. SCAD provided a cool tool, allowing me to create art online using a cyber-piece of concrete and cyber-chalks. Lots of fun. This is the first year for the online version.

As my mother pointed out, "You never win anything!" Now, I can humbly disagree :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Books I've Sold and Other Elusive Numbers

Hop on over to A Good Blog is Hard to Find and you'll find my latest post about the numbers game of book signing events!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Long Live the Pulpwood Queens!


Well, its been a week or so since I left Texas, so I've had enough time to look at all the photos on Facebook and read the blog posts, and still, the feeling remains: It was the best party I've ever attended.

Below is what I commented on the Dallas Morning News ,Texas Pages article, Jamie Ford Leads Chorus of Praise for Pulpwood Queens.

Yes, I was there at the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend, and let me confirm all the reports. Someone there said (and I think it was Pat Conroy) that Kathy L. Patrick has the ability to single-handedly save the publishing industry. And I tend to agree. Here's why.
Kathy has some sort of mystical ability to pull people together from all walks of life. Writers and readers mingled together in harmony and hilarity, all in the name of literacy, dressed as Barbies or something from the Wizard of Oz. We were children again and childish in our pure love of books. We danced and laughed in praise of the stories the Good Lord gives to us all to cherish, and learn from and inspire one another.

I've published four books in as many years, and I'm honored my latest, Saving Cicadas, finally got me to Texas, but I've been to too many book events to count--this one, well, it tops them all. And yes, I know the Good Witch Glendas all dressed in white might have helped just a little bit with their mean mojitos, but I imagine any witness might vouch for me when I say the little town of Jefferson, Texas became annointed that weekend. It was a magical place where deep friendships were made, batteries were recharged, and the Spirit of the Book was never bigger or brighter than I've seen it in all my years. And it left us with the feeling that yes, there is hope afterall for the lovely paper product that fills us with so much joy and awe as we flip through its pages. Because there are people out there who love books just as much as we authors do. They're called the Pulpwood Queens.

Jamie Ford


Author table at Lamache's Italian


Ad Hudler is Oz, I always knew it.


Susan Cushman, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Deanne Gist


Jamie Ford, Pat Conroy, Nicole Seitz, Melissa Conroy

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

On Fiction and Telling Tall Tales

Here's the question: Is is ever okay to tell a lie? Is fiction lying? How about if it breaks from reality, imagines the supernatural, or even takes liberties with the Truth?

Here's my two cents:

My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles once told us kids a flat-out lie. They said there was a swamp monster living in the lake beside my grandparent's house. It was a big estate, 65 acres, and we spent a lot of time on our own, playing outside. We'd go there in the summertimes and swim in innertubes and fish in that lake, but only when a grown-up was with us. Never once did I venture into that lake by myself. They even went so far as to show me a picture of the swamp monster, so I could believe it, know it to be true, see it's face in my mind's eye if I ever thought about going down there alone. Which I did not.

When I got older and more mature, more able to take care of myself and make good decisions, I found out that swamp monster was a lie. I thank God for the people in my life who once stretched the truth and used their imaginations, sometimes giving me nightmares. Because they saved our lives. None of us grandchildren ever ventured into that lake alone. Not one of us drowned because some grown-ups in our lives loved us enough to get truly creative. They knew what could happen, and it was worse than a swamp monster.

The nightmares? Oh, they went away. But the love for my family who protected me and kept me from falling into that black lake? Now that will last forever.

*UPDATE*
Since writing this, my aunt says she doesn't remember this creature, but she does remember a certain TROLL that lived under the little bridge that crossed over to the island in the center of the lake. The same bridge we fished on. The same troll that apparently gave the three billy goats gruff a lot of trouble. My cousin doesn't remember a thing, but I specifically remember the above creature in my nightmares. My daughter saw him on my screen and said, "That's scary" and I said, "I know. But it's not real." I guess I'm a little wary of giving her the same dreams...

(image of Creature of the Black Lagoon from screenrant.com)